


Something More Exciting

by CubbieBear



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Crush at First Sight, First Meetings, Getting over a break up, Karaoke, M/M, Meet-Cute, Red Haired Josh Dun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:07:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21585853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CubbieBear/pseuds/CubbieBear
Summary: After a break-up, Tyler meets up with his friends at a karaoke bar in an effort to move on. There he meets a boy who gives him a reason to push past his insecurities and open himself back up, which he does, partially, through song.
Relationships: Josh Dun/Tyler Joseph, Tyler Joseph/Brendon Urie (mentioned)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 18





	Something More Exciting

Tyler really didn’t want to go out, but his friend, Mark, wouldn’t take no for an answer. To be fair, it had been two months since Tyler had broken up with Brendon, his boyfriend of a year, and fallen into his current funk, but still he felt that he should be allowed to wallow and mourn the relationship a little longer. It wasn’t even necessarily that he missed Brendon himself; it was general loneliness -that feeling that you'll never find your "forever"- and wounded pride more than anything. 

Maybe if Brendon hadn’t been so callous about the whole thing, it wouldn't have been so bad. Tyler had been walking home from Mark’s when he spotted Brendon getting into his car with someone vaguely familiar. Tyler jogged over to try to catch him before he left, but the car reversed, and he was able to better see the passenger; it was Dallon, Brendon’s ex. Tyler stopped and stared after the car for a moment before quickly fumbling his phone out of his pocket and calling Brendon.

“Hey man, what’s up?” Brendon answered.

“Brendon, I...I just saw you with Dallon. What are you doing? What’s going on?” Tyler asked, slightly hysterical. He heard a long sigh from the other end of the phone.

“I can’t talk about this right now; I’ll call you back in a few minutes,” Brendon answered.

“But...” Tyler tried to ask again, but Brendon had already hung up. Not knowing what else to do, Tyler walked up to his apartment and sat waiting to hear back from Brendon, his nerves not allowing him to do much more. Finally his phone buzzed, but with a text, not a call. It read, “Ty, I’m sorry, but I can’t be with you anymore. I’m still in love with Dallon. I’ll get all my stuff in the next couple days. Take care.”

Tyler stared at his phone incredulously for a few moments, then launched his phone at the wall and slid down to the floor with tear slowly rolling down his face. He knew that things hadn't been great between them lately, and that the relationship was slowly rolling towards an inevitable end, but the year they had spent together should have been worth more than a lousy text. He spent the next week locked in his studio/spare bedroom pouring his heart out into songs that would never leave that room and listening to Brendon move his belongings out of their apartment. 

**************************************************************************

That had been two months ago and, now after much convincing he was going out with Mark and some of their other friends to try to get back to his old self. Tyler decided to try to start the night off right by wearing his favorite outfit: black skinny jeans, black t-shirt with his floral kimono over it and floral vans. He did his hair so it was nice and fluffy and stuck his wallet, phone and keys in his pockets before heading out.

When he reached the bar, he noticed that it was karaoke night and groaned out loud. He wasn’t really in the mood, but he was already there and his friends were expecting him so he'd try to make the best of the situation. Making his way into the bar, he spotted Mark, Ben, Michael, Chris and some guy with bright red hair.  
He made his way over to the table and gave a quick “Hey, guys” to everyone.

“Tyler!" the group greeted him as he sat in the only open seat, between Ben and the red-haired guy, Josh. 

Josh just stared at Tyler as he sat down. He had never seen a more beautiful person in his life with his fluffy brown hair, slim frame, emo floral style, and tattoos peeking out, not to mention that face--intense eyes, straight nose, pouty lips. slight scruff...how someone could be so cute and hot at the same time was beyond him. 

"Thanks for dragging me out tonight; its good to see you guys," Tyler said with a little laugh, then turning to Josh, who was still staring, he said, "Hey, man. I don't think we've met before. I'm Tyler," and held out his hand to Josh. 

"Nice to meet you; I'm Josh," he responded quietly while shaking Tyler's outstretched hand.

"So, how do you know these guys?", Tyler asked, gesturing to the group.

"Oh, I work with Chris over at Guitar Center," Josh answered, eyes quickly flickering to Chris then back to Tyler again. 

"Sick," Tyler commented. 

"So sick," Josh responded, and then looked down and shook his head at how ridiculous and lame that sounded, but glancing up again he saw that Tyler had already turned to talk with Ben. A new song started playing with a girl beginning a slightly off-key version of "Because of You" by Kelly Clarkson. Abruptly, Tyler stood up and announced that he was going to get a drink and asked if anyone needed anything. After getting drink orders from a couple of his friends, he left the table and walked towards the bar.

Josh was slightly confused about the abrupt change in Tyler's demeanor, but Chris leaned over to explain about Tyler's semi-recent break-up. As Mark saw Tyler making his way back to the table, he ended the conversation saying, "Yeah it was hard enough to get Tyler to come out tonight so, for the love of God, no one mention Brendon or anything to do with him tonight, ok? I think Ty's over him, but you can never be sure with how he is sometimes, so just in case, ya know?"

They all shook their heads in agreement as Tyler made his way back to the table and passed out drinks to his friends. Even though he was sad to hear that Tyler was having a rough time, Josh was excited that he was into guys and single..even if maybe Tyler wasn't currently looking to date or anything. As the night wore on, it became apparent to Josh that Tyler wasn’t always totally present in the moment. Sometimes, a song would come on, and he’d get a distant look in his eyes or someone would say something and he’d look down and fidget with the bottom of his t-shirt. Josh hoped that he wasn't still in love with his ex. Tyler was too beautiful - inside and out- to be hung up on some loser who couldn’t see what a treasure they had. As they talked more, and he watched Tyler interact with the group, Josh could see what a genuine and thoughtful person Tyler was and hoped he'd have the opportunity to get to know him more in the future. 

It wasn’t like Tyler hadn’t taken notice of Josh either. He seemed like such a contradiction-a punk exterior with his bright red hair, gauges and tattoos; not to mention his black skinny jeans, Rancid T-shirt and Doc Martens, but even after just an hour or two in his presence, Tyler could tell that he was just a big marshmallow inside, as Josh gushed about his two cats, the wonder of space, and his love for the drums. If he were in a better place, Tyler would be all over that. He could tell that Josh was interested, at least if the shy glances and doe eyes he kept sending Tyler were anything to go by. The longer Tyler sat (and drank) and listened to Josh and his friends, the angrier he got – with himself. Here he was sulking over a failed relationship that wasn’t really going anywhere to begin with when he could be enjoying himself and getting to know the cute, interesting boy next to him.

All of a sudden, the DJ called out, “Alright, we have time for a few more songs so if you’re looking to show off your skills come on up and sing for us!”

Tyler slammed his hands down on the table and shot up, “That’s it!” he said loudly and stalked away from the table. Everyone just looked at each other; Josh growing concerned for where Tyler might have gone until they saw him climb up onto the stage, grab the mic and say, "This is the truth, my frens!"

The unmistakable beat of "Truth Hurts" by Lizzo started playing, and Tyler launched into a very enthusiastic performance of the song - looking exasperated as he sang "Why're men great til they gotta be great?", pointing to Mark and pretending to wash and fluff his hair during the lines about the best friend and salon, winking at Josh at the mention of the Minnesota Vikings and just generally shaking his butt and dancing around during the entirety of the song. Josh's gaze was transfixed on Tyler throughout his whole performance, and as Tyler finished up and left the stage, Josh let out a breathy sigh and mumbled, "Wow...I think I'm in love," to which he got an eyebrow raise from Mark, who was sitting next to him.

As Tyler came back to the table, all of his friends shouted their appreciation for his performance, as Ben slapped him on the back. Eventually, he sat back down next to Josh. and asked him quietly, "So...what did you think?"

"I think...., "Josh answered slowly, still slightly dazed, "...that you are amazing". 

Tyler's cheeks tinted pink and he let out a little laugh, "Thanks Josh, and, um, I hope this isn't too forward but I...well, I think you seem pretty great too and was wondering if you would maybe be interested in..." 

Before he could even finish, Josh cut him off. "Yes...yes. I am so interested. Would you maybe wanna get out of here and go get something to eat or hang out or something? So we can talk and get to know each other more?"

"Yeah, that sounds great, " Tyler answered, and they both quickly finished their drinks and stood up to leave. 

"Hey Tyler, Josh, where are you going?" Chris asked as they got up from the table.

Josh responded, "We're both tired and are gonna call it a night and maybe grab some food before heading home". 

The friends all looked at the pair with varying expressions from amusement to shock but no one said anything, except Chris who jokingly cried with a pout, "Aww c'mon, Josh? After one night, you already like him better than me ?" 

Josh glanced from Tyler to Chris and just shrugged and said, "Yeah...sorry. Truth hurts."

**Author's Note:**

> Every time I hear "Truth Hurts" all I can think about is how Tyler would perform this song so I wrote this to try to get that out of my head.


End file.
